By Alex Brooks Apple today announced financial results for its third fiscal quarter of 2013 which ran from January April 1, 2013 until June 30. Apple posted revenue of $35.3 billion and net quarterly profit of $6.9 billion, or $7.47 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $35 billion and net profit of $8.8 billion, or $9.32 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter.
Gross margin was 36.9 percent compared to 42.8 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 57 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
Gross margin continues to be the number that many analysts watch closely as it continues to fall quarter to quarter. Primary reasons for this drop include the tighter margins on the iPad mini and heightened sales of cheaper iPhone models. To see this trend in action the key indicator is the changing average sales price of Apple’s top products. The iPhone’s ASP has dropped from $613 in the year-ago quarter to $581, the iPad has dropped from $515 to $436.
Apple reported the following number of shipments for its products during the quarter:
31.2 million iPhones compared to 26 million in the year-ago-quarter
14.6 million iPads compared to 17 million in the year-ago-quarter
3.8 million Macs compared to 4 million in the year-ago quarter
4.5 million iPods compared to 6.7 million in the year-ago quarter.
“We are especially proud of our record June quarter iPhone sales of over 31 million and the strong growth in revenue from iTunes, Software and Services,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We are really excited about the upcoming releases of iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks, and we are laser-focused and working hard on some amazing new products that we will introduce in the fall and across 2014.”
“We generated $7.8 billion in cash flow from operations during the quarter and are pleased to have returned $18.8 billion in cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO.
Apple provided the following guidance for its fiscal 2013 fourth quarter:
revenue between $34 billion and $37 billion
gross margin between 36 percent and 37 percent
operating expenses between $3.9 billion and $3.95 billion
other income/(expense) of $200 million
tax rate of 26.5%
Source: World of Apple
